Osteopathy As a Top Health Care Career Choice

What is Osteopathic Health Care?

The health profession of Osteopathy (founded in 1874 by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still in the USA) is an established internationally recognized manual medicine system of diagnosis and treatment, which lays its main emphasis on the structural and functional integrity of the musculoskeletal system.

Osteopathic health practitioners use a variety of hands-on physical treatments. These include soft tissue techniques, joint mobilization & manipulation, muscle energy treatment and functional (strain and counter strain) techniques. These techniques are normally employed together with exercise, dietary, and occupational advice in an attempt to help patients recover from pain, disease and injury.

There are two types of osteopaths. European style Osteopaths (also known as osteopathic manual practitioners, manual osteopaths, traditional osteopaths & classical osteopaths) do not prescribe medications or perform surgery, while American style osteopaths (also known as osteopathic physicians) perform surgery and prescribe medications as well as using osteopathic techniques in managing a patient’s condition.

Osteopathy as a Career Choice

Osteopathic health care is one of the most complete health care systems in the world. It is a distinctive form of medical practice. The practice of manual osteopathy utilizes all available modern manual medicine techniques to assess injury and diseases of muscles, bones, joints and nerves. It also offers the added benefit of hands-on diagnosis and treatment through a system of therapy known as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). Osteopathic manual practitioners understand how all the body’s systems are interconnected and how each one affects the others. They focus special attention on the musculoskeletal system, which reflects and influences the condition of all other body systems.

Osteopathy is the fastest growing health care profession in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Iran & Europe. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) in a report released in December 2012 and published by the Toronto Star; titled “the Top 25 Occupations in Demand” included manual osteopathy in #13 of the occupations in demand in Canada.

The average salary for a new manual osteopathy graduate who works as an employee in a health or rehab clinic is generally between $30 to $40 per hour in Europe, Australia, Caribbean and North America and $10 to $20 in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Manual osteopaths in private osteopathic practice generally charge between $90 to $140 per hour of treatment in Europe, North America, Australia & Caribbean and $20 to $60 per hour in Asia, Latin America & Africa.

For patients injured in a motor vehicle related accident in Ontario (Canada) all auto insurers cover osteopathic treatments at the rate of $53.66 per hour as per fee guideline set by Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO).

The average income of manual osteopaths in Canada and USA is $90,000 per year. In Australia it is $78,000 and in United Kingdom (UK) it is 58,000 Euro. The average income of American style osteopathic physicians varies greatly as it depends on the speciality they practice. It is $161,000 to $576,000 per year.

There is virtually no unemployment in this health care profession. Almost all European style osteopaths find employment within a few months upon graduation.

European style osteopaths are found worldwide. There are approximately 4500 osteopaths in United Kingdom (UK), 1500 manual osteopaths in Canada, 1000 manual osteopaths in Brazil and 67,000 doctors of osteopathic medicine in the USA, and a few thousands more spread around the world in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Panama, Colombia, China, Iran, India, South Korea, Japan, Greece, South Africa, Singapore, Vietnam, Venezuela, Latvia, St Martin, Barbados, Jamaica, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, Pakistan, Israel, Austria, Germany, Portugal, Italy, and Netherlands amongst others. Nearly half of them are women.

The number of osteopaths worldwide has increased exponentially in the past few years largely due to National Academy of Osteopathy making the diploma program in osteopathy available to students worldwide through an online method of education.

Where do Osteopaths work?

European style Osteopaths have the option of opening their own manual osteopathy clinics; or to rent rooms in established medical, health or rehab clinics and benefit from cross referrals; or to work as employees in other osteopathic, medical, chiropractic, physiotherapy, athletic therapy, massage or rehab clinics.

Most new graduates start their professional work as employees. Later they establish their own private clinics.

Becoming an Osteopath

To become an osteopath one must graduates from an accredited osteopathic school, college or university. The programs vary in length and diplomas and degrees offered. The diploma programs are generally between 1000 to 2000 hours and the degree programs between 3000 to 4500 hours. The time it takes to graduate depends on the osteopathy program and ranges from 4 months to 4 years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends 4200 hours (4 years) of osteopathic education for students without previous health education and 1000 hours (1 year) for students with previous health education. However WHO guideline is voluntary and not mandatory. It is not a requirement to follow the WHO guideline. Some osteopathic schools follow the WHO guideline voluntarily.

The Council on Manual Osteopathy Education (CMOE) of the International Osteopathic Association has accredited the following osteopathic schools, colleges & universities which provide diploma and degree programs in osteopathy:

A number of researches have shown patients who have low back pain of mechanical origin are most satisfied with osteopathic treatments.

Dr. Lee Choi, MD, an osteopathy student of National Academy of Osteopathy has completed a research project as his thesis towards the investigative project requirement of course TH 980 of the diploma in manual osteopathy program.

Patients who received European style osteopathic treatment had the highest rate of satisfaction with their treatments, followed by chiropractic, massage therapy, physiotherapy, acupuncture and medicine.

Over 95% of the patients surveyed who received osteopathic treatments indicated great satisfaction with their treatments, followed by 91% who received chiropractic treatments, 86% by those who received massage therapy, 75% by those who received physiotherapy, 60% by those who received acupuncture and 30% by those who received medical care for their low back pain.

This research confirms result of previous research indicating that patients favor manual osteopathy treatment above all other available treatments for low back pain of mechanical origin and that osteopathy is the number one health care system of choice for them whenever they suffer from low back pain.

World Osteopathy Day

As a result of tireless work of the world famous osteopath, Dr Shahin Pourgol, president of the National University of Medical Sciences & the National Academy of Osteopathy for suggesting a World Osteopathy Day and collaboration between National Academy of Osteopathy, International Osteopathic Association, Canadian Manual Osteopathy Examining Board, and a number of other organizations, manual osteopaths, and osteopathy students, June 22nd has been chosen and named “World Osteopathy Day”.

For over 130 years the health profession of osteopathy has done so much to help human beings have a better quality of life and it deserve a day of its own as recognition of its contribution to human society worldwide.

At 10AM on June 22, 1874 in Baldwin, Kansas (USA), the 46 years old physician, Dr Andrew Taylor Still founded osteopathy. Dr Shahin Pourgol recommended this day in oppose to Dr Still’s date of birth (August 06, 1828) as the World Osteopathy Day and his suggestion was accepted by the majority.

Dr Pourgol is bringing a private member bill to the Canadian parliament to request the government of Canada officially recognize June 22nd as the World Osteopathy Day.

International Osteopathic Association has committed to do the same with parliaments of a number of other countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.